A blog about tabletop hobby and or strategy games, with a side order of electronic turn based goodness here and there. Now with tons of retro gaming content both electronic and tabletop. Also with 20% more self loathing douchebaggery!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

My Swords and Wizardry House Rules

One great thing about Swords and Wizardry is how simple it is, leaving you plenty of room to add in as you see fit. Currently these are our house rules created over 2 hours or so of actual gameplay.

Like all house rules, they may be found wanting in extended play and should be tweaked to fit everyone's satisfaction. Provided you have a gamegroup where rules tweaking is considered making it more fun and fair for everyone and not an evil plot to get your own way. This is why its called house rules and play testing. They evolve over time! Its all part of the fun of tabletop gaming. If you are just gonna play every game exactly as written (Aka: RAW, Rules as Written), why not just play a videogame? Its faster and more immediate.

On to our rules!

Character Generation & Attributes1. Roll 3d6 7 times for attributes, and assign the 6 highest in any order you like.2. Maximum Hit Points for levels 1 and 2.3. An 18 in a stat has a modifier of +2 with an extra 2nd level spell for spellcasters if it is their Prime Attribute.4. A 3 in a stat has a modifier of -2.5. Maximum character weight carried is STR x 10.

Character Classes1. Fighting Men at 5th level get Weapon Focus. One weapon type (ie Short Sword, Hand Axe, Long Bow, ect) when wielded is +1 to hit and damage. At 10th level a Fighting Man may either take a second Weapon Focus, or get an extra attack per round with the weapon he chose as his Weapon Focus choice.2. Elves and Dwarves get Weapon Focus, but not until 10th level. (Which means 10 Fighting Man level gains for the Elf.)3. Elf starting HP is based on whatever class they first go into adventuring with.4. Magic Users and Clerics do not have to pre memorize their First and Second level spells. They may choose what spells to cast based on how many slots they have for the day, and what spells they know.5. At level 10 a character adds 1 point to their Prime attribute.

Combat1. A natural rolled 20 to hit is an automatic hit and you do maximum rolled damage plus any normal modifiers.2. A natural rolled 1 to hit is an automatic miss and you may do nothing next round.3. Moving out of an adjacent square/base to base with an enemy gives them a free attack on you before you move out.4. Attacking an opponent directly from behind them gives a +1 to hit and damage against them.

Adventuring1. Random checks to do stuff: If not covered by the rules, roll D20 equal to or under the most applicable attribute. If the task is relatively easy but has a chance of failure, count the attribute as 5 points higher for the roll. If it is considered very hard, reduce the attribute by 5 for the roll. Modest difficulty is considered to be the attribute's normal value.